No fare: Cabdrivers protest against companies

Monday morning, taxi drivers in Orange County went on strike to protest high weekly rental fees that they must pay to the various taxi companies they work for. Their initial protest took the form of a long, snaking line of several dozen taxis driving slowly through the Anaheim resort area. Here, the moving strike drives along West Convention Center Way in Anaheim.BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – More than 100 taxicab drivers conducted a “tire-lock” on Monday and refused to pick up passengers at heavily traveled hubs across Orange County to protest what they consider unfair treatment by the companies they work for.

A handful of drivers picketed in front of John Wayne Airport, but the vast majority created a sea of yellow by caravanning past airport terminals, the Anaheim Metrolink station, Disneyland, the Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim City Hall.

“The drivers are upset because they feel like they're being treated like slaves,” said Malik Azhar, a former driver who gathered with other cabbies six months ago to organize the Taxi Driver Association of Orange County.

Several drivers said that their colleagues are verbally abused by supervisors. Additionally, cabbies work as independent contractors and pay for their own gasoline and as much as $800 per week to lease their vehicles from the larger taxi companies.

As a result, many drivers work more than 10 hours a day, seven days a week to take home enough money to support their families, said Mohammed Popal, a driver for Yellow Cab of Northern Orange County.

“We believe we are being used and exploited by the company,” Popal said.

Because drivers are not employees, they can pay $20 to change their county-issued permits to work for other companies, said Greg Akins, vice president of California Yellow Cab.

Akins denied allegations of abuse within his company, but said that the leases are high because the money goes toward advertising, dispatchers, permits, vehicle maintenance and exorbitant insurance premiums for Orange County. Drivers of California Yellow Cab who are permitted into the airport pay $800 per week, while drivers who use company-owned street cabs pay a $575 weekly lease. Drivers who own and operate their own cabs for the company pay $365 in weekly fees.

“I don't necessarily think this tire-lock is a bad idea if they don't like what's going on, but they do have the option of working elsewhere if they aren't happy,” Akins said. “There are lots of smaller companies out there with cheaper leases, so they are not beholden to any single company by any stretch.”

More than 1,600 permitted cabdrivers work for 39 companies across Orange County, about one-fifth of them part of the newly created nonprofit group. Azhar said his group's requests for intervention are largely ignored by the Orange County Taxi Administration Program, the agency that regulates local cabdrivers and companies.

OCTAP officials have met with Azhar and his group to explain that the taxi companies and independent drivers both operate as private businesses.

“It's not OCTAP's responsibility to regulate the finances of their businesses, because it's a free market,” said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which administers OCTAP.

OCTAP's purpose is “to ensure that passengers are getting into a safe taxi driven by someone with a clean record and that the vehicle is fully insured,” Zlotnik said.

Monday morning, taxi drivers in Orange County went on strike to protest high weekly rental fees that they must pay to the various taxi companies they work for. Their initial protest took the form of a long, snaking line of several dozen taxis driving slowly through the Anaheim resort area. Here, the moving strike drives along West Convention Center Way in Anaheim. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
After a strategy meeting at the Anaheim train station, taxi drivers line up to take part in a moving strike. The drivers drove from the train station/Angel Stadium in a long line toward the Disneyland and Anaheim Convention Center area. According to organizer Solomon Kedebe, the drivers are protesting high weekly car rental rates that they are forced to pay to their employers. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mohammed Popal, a cab driver for Yellow Cab of Orange County, waves a sign to other cab drivers at the John Wayne Airport taxi lot Monday morning. The drivers protesting their treatment by Yellow Cab of Orange County. "The treatment we are getting is just reminding us that is just modern day slavery," says Popal. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cab drivers at the John Wayne Airport taxi lot wave signs at a cab as it pulls into the waiting lot Monday morning, protesting their treatment by Yellow Cab of Orange County. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mohammed Popal, center, holds a sign as he and other cab drivers at the John Wayne Airport taxi lot stage a strike, protesting their treatment by Yellow Cab of Orange County. "The lease costs us $800 a week, that's not even gas. It costs us $1,000 a week. We have to work seven days a week, 12-16 hours a day just to break even," says Popal. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An unidentified Yellow Cab employee talks on his phone in front of a line of striking cab drivers at the John Wayne Airport taxi lot Monday morning. The drivers protesting their treatment by Yellow Cab of Orange County. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Monday morning, several dozen taxi drivers assembled at the Anaheim train station for a rolling strike. Led by taxi driver Solomon Kedebe, they were protesting what they consider high weekly rental rates that each company charges its drivers to use the company's cars. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A long line of taxi cabs, from several Orange County companies, drive in single file out of the Angel Stadium parking lot toward the Disneyland area. The taxi drivers were striking to gain attention of what they consider high fees that they pay weekly to rent their cabs from their employers. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A long line of taxi cabs, from several Orange County companies, drive in single file out of the Angel Stadium parking lot toward the Disneyland area. The taxi drivers were striking to gain attention of what they consider high fees that they pay weekly to rent their cabs from their employers. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A cab driver at the John Wayne Airport taxi lot, Mr. Abdi, holds a sign out at passers by as drivers from Yellow Cab of Orange County went on strike Monday morning. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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